February 22, 2008

A sign indicating a change in ownership at Mulvaney's Building & Loan in midtown Sacramento has raised alarms among the restaurant's clientele that owner/chef Patrick Mulvaney could be moving on.

Not at all, says Mulvaney. The sign is an official formality stemming from his incorporation of the business in anticipation of an expansion into a neighboring former auto repair shop at 19th and L. Mulvaney has no plans to extend the restaurant into that site, but once parking and improvement issues are resolved with city authorities he intends to use the additional quarters as a banquet hall for special occasions, such as wedding receptions.

He's also toying with the notion of using the shop, which will be able to seat up to 100, for family-style multi-course dinners a couple of nights a week. The featured entree would change with each meal, such as fried chicken one time, roast pork another. It's a strategy that Napa Valley chef Thomas Keller has adopted with much success at his restaurant Ad Hoc in Yountville.

Mulvaney also said he's just hired pastry chef Kira O'Donnell, who recently closed her bakery The Real Pie Co., and given her a free hand with the restaurant's desserts except for one caveat - she must continue to make the popular Ding Dongs.

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